Three

It was late by the time we landed in Jeju. My new ID said that my name was Lee JungAh, 19 years old, from Bucheon, Gyeonggi and I didn’t question it. We ate a rushed dinner at the airport terminal, before getting into a black Toyota in the parking lot.

“Whose car is this?” I asked tiredly, leaning against the window as my eyes drooped.

“Mine,” Kris answered simply.

I chose not to question further.

The house we ended up was a cosy, small place that practically was right on the beach. In fact, the back of the house had a patio that led directly to the soft sands. It would have made for a beautiful vacation spot, if only I wasn’t hiding from gun-smuggling killers.

“At least your dad picked a nice place,” Kris allowed, dropping his dufflebag onto the kitchen counter with a loud clank. He glanced around, taking off his jacket for the Jeju heat. I tried to answer him, but was caught mid-yawn. “You can go head upstairs and go to bed if you want.” Kris’ eyes flickered over me for a quick second. “I am sure your dad has had this house fully stocked and your things here by now. One of the bedrooms should have your suitcases in it. We can talk tomorrow morning.”

“Aren’t you going to sleep too?” I asked, curious.

Kris shook his head. “I need to check out the house and the neighborhood,” he explained. “Safety reasons, just so I feel more comfortable. We can talk tomorrow.”

To my surprise, my suitcases were already delivered, sitting in the middle of a room with light purple wallpaper. Too tired to change clothes, I just stripped down to my underwear and climbed into bed. My heart felt so heavy, as if I was suffocating slowly and didn’t know how to make it stop. Nothing was the same anymore after today; everything had changed.

I was no longer Kim Hyojung.

It took me a while, but I drifted off into a fitful sleep. I had a dream - or should I call it a nightmare - where I was in a car with Minseok driving along an empty road, breaking the speed limit. Then, something was wrong. I couldn’t explain it, but the mood had suddenly shifted. Minseok skidded the car to a halt in the middle of the road and told me to stay in the car while he went out to check. I open my mouth, trying to stop him, but no words came out. I could only watch helplessly as he went out to check the empty road. I watched as a car drove up and four men got out, faceless, and wearing black suits. I screamed, trying to get out of the locked car, but could do nothing as one of the men held a pistol up to Minseok’s head.

I woke up in cold sweat to Kris knocking on my bedroom door and calling my name. My lungs heaved and I gasped, shaking the dream out of my head, before answering him.

"Yeah?"

"I let you sleep in but it’s almost lunch time," he said in a voice that seemed uncharacteristically bright, "I make some ddeokbokki; is that okay?"

"Mm, sure,” I called back, flipping over onto my stomach, suddenly noticing how hungry I was. “I'll be downstairs in ten."

I listened to his footsteps shuffling away before pulling myself out of bed with a grunt. I had slept all of the morning away, yet still felt tired. It was as if I was living in a dream, as if none of this was real.  

Throwing on the first outfit I dug out from my suitcase, I walked out the room and down the hallway into the bathroom that I shared with Kris. As I brushed my teeth, I took a peek into Kris’ new room and made a face at Kris’ stuff how boring all of his belongings were. His clothes, strewn out on the bed, were all black, white, or gray.  

When I walked into the kitchen feeling much more refreshed, I saw Kris at the kitchen counter, digging into a plate of dukbokki, reading from a fol